Decorticating machine



y 23, 1946- J. 5-. REEVES DECORTICATING MACHINE Filed March 25,1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. -foiuz 5'. Reeves. BY W,

Mrfm

ATTORNEYS July 23, 1946.

J. S. REEVES DECORTICATING MACHINE ,Filedurch 25, 1944 2- Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

ATTURNEYE:

Patented July 23, 1946 T E D PAT EN T =0F'F'l C E 'DEGQRTICATING MACHINE John S fRe'eves, Baltim'0re,-

' Applicati0nsMarchlQ5, 1944, Slifll NO-J528 129 This invention .relates to decorticating .ma-

.chines particularly adaptedlforlthe production of fiber from the leaves .of ,plantsof the..Agave family, such asSansevieria, .cabulla, .Maya,lp1ta flora, henequen,. and the like.

The leaves of .such plants .are r-long and .relatively narrow and .contain -longitudinal white fibers ewhich can .be. recovered by cleaning away the pulp, juice, etc. Inathe us.ual.,machine this waste material, referre'd'toas bagasse',.is stripped from: the. leaves .by scutching blades mounte'd. .on the periphery of a rotating wheel .or, .drum. The leaves hang downwardly .over an .arcuate scutchingface substantially concentric with! the wheel, the blades exerting a squeezing .and scraping effect which travels progressively along the leaves toward their .free ends, stripping away the bagasse. The clearance between .the scutching surface and bladesmustbe verysmall to insure eificientcleaning, .i. e., on. thev order .of several thousandths of an inch.

To provide a complete cleaning of :the leaves from butt to tip, they areheld ifirstso :that one end. hangs downoverl-the scutching. face and this half of the ;leaf is cleaned, and-then the leaves are automatically reversed and Lheldby the cleaned fiber while the otheren'dor .half .is being cleaned. The second cleaning loperation may be accomplished by a.secondscutchingwheel as in my prior Patent .--No..;2.,34l,29.0, .oreach .leaf

maybe caused to pass the same scutching wheel twice, once for each end-to be-cleaned.

Machines of the types referreddto aboveproduce satisfactory-cleaned fiber, but the mechanisms necessary for feeding .thelea-ves past the scutching wheel or wheels and for handling the leaves and turning them :end afor-Mend are undesirably complex and productiomand maintenance costs are correspondingly high. .From the standpoint *of quantity production, moreover, the output ofcleaned fiberper machine is too low. The'scutching blades engage the-leaves near the-middle and move toward'the ends, so that the'bagassefrom theentire:half of alleaf is stripped off ahead of the .blades. This w vless ,expensive .to construct ...and -maintain, .and

capable .of .producing. a greater yield of cleaned fiber substantially without breakage.

.Another object .is to provide an improved .scutching action in which successive blades engage .the. leaf first at its end and .then atpoints progressivelyfarther-from the end, the length: of leaf subjected to-scutching thus increasing .by

relatively small increments.

vA further object is to .eliminate the scutching face and wheelas'heretofore' known and to clean the leaves by passing them between flat-:rel-atively rotatable surfaces.

A stillfurther object is to utilize the scutch- .ing movement of .the blades for the-additional purpose of feeding'the leaves through the apparatus.

Still another object is to clean'substantially theientire length of a leaf in one-scutchingoperation.

Other objects will appear hereinafter as the description of the invention w.proceeds.

Broadly stated, apparatus embodying the present invention comprises relatively rotatable members one of which has a-substantially flat scutching surface, the other member being pro- .vided .with more or less radialscutching blades which project into .-close Eproximity with the scutching surface. Usually the'scutching surface will comprise a stationary horizontal support and the blades willbe carried .by a rotatablememberuabove the-support, but the invention .is .not limited to .this arrangement. .The scutching. support will also preferably cover only a part of the area of the circle. of rotation of the rotating-orupper member, being provided with a,.more or less radial edge which constitutes the feeding-edgesofthe flat scutchingsurface. The shape .andextent of this surfaceare otherwise imm.aterial,provided of course that it covers the scutching area.

The leaves are fed across theffeeding edge-end first and "the rapidly rotating blades first engage'and clean the-tips rof-the leaves and then remove successive small sections of bagasse as the leaves advance, so that the cleaned fiber end gradually increases in length and the scutching -action moves progressivel-y up the leaves. At the same'time the blades :pull-the leaves with themithroughthe a apparatus, the rate: of feed -of the leaves being:controlled:byholdingthe ends of the-zleavesiagainst this pull. :I-hismay be done manuallysif desired, but usually it will be preferred to :employ :suitable :mechanical gripping devieeswhich :move :at :the desired --.rate.

. edge is such as to draw the leaves into the machine. Asmore and more of the leaf is cleaned, the cleaned fiber moves across the scutching area and also radially outward due to the tangential feeding action of the blades, being thus kept away from the center of rotation and discharged at the periphery of the machine.

Preferably the ends of the leaves are fed across the feeding edge at a point near the center of rotation, and the outer endsof the leaves are caused to move in a path which passes closely by the outer end of the feeding edge so thatsubstantially the entire length of the leaf is cleaned in one pass through the machine; The angle between the longitudinal axis of the leaves and the feeding 'edge'as the leaves are fed to themachinermay vary'considerably, and the direction of the path of movementof the outer ends of the leaves will be adjusted accordingly. However, the longitudinal axis jof the leaves Should not be transverse to the direction of movement of the blades as the leaves enter the scutching area, nor depart too far from parallelism with the direction, because of the danger of breaking or cutting off the fiber. For example, the angle between the direction of movement of the blades and the 1011- itudinal axis of theleaf should not exceed say 45, in which case the angle between the leaf axis and the feeding edge "(if radial) must not be less than 45. 7 V

Oneembodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawingsbut it is to be expressly understood that said drawings are for purposes ofillustration only and arenot to be construed as a definition of the limits of the invention, reference being had to the appended claims for this purpose.

In the drawings, 1

' Fig. 'l is a plan view of an apparatus embodying the invention,'parts being broken away, for clarity of illustration; and I Fig. 2 is a side view of the apparatus shown inFigLl...

' The apparatus comprises any suitable framework here shown as having abed plate I and uprights 2 suitably arranged to provide Supports andbearings for the parts. The horizontal frame members 3 form a well 4 in which a hollow verticalpost or column 5 is seated, this column carrying a horizontal fiat scutching support 6 at its upper end. In the form shown, the support 5- has the shape of a sector of a circle, having a radial feeding edge 1 'as above described and terminating at 8 (Fig. 1). A shaft 9 passes "through the hollow column 5 and through the bottom ofthe well 4, the lower end of the shaft having a suitable stepbearing I0 and the upper end rotating in a hearing I I carried in the frame members l2.

' The shaft 9 carries a rotating scutching member l3, the lower surface of which is provided with a plurality of projecting scutching blades l4. Preferably these blades HI are generally radial in direction and cover substantially the en'- tire lowerisurface of the member l3 as shown in dotted lines in Fig. I. As shown in Fig. 2, the blades also project 'into close proximity to the scutching" support '6 withtheir lower edges ro- Leaves to be cleaned are fed to the apparatus in .the position shown in Fig. 1 .in which the tip of the leaf passes over the'radial feeding edge I at a point near shaft 9, the longitudinal axisof the leaf making an acute angle with the feeding edge. As the tip of the leaf passes over the feeding edge, it is immediately engaged by the inner ends of the scutching blades which draw the leaf farther into the scutching area while at the same time stripping the bagasse from the fiber. As

the leaves move farther into the scutching area, A

the rotating scutching blades engagethe leaf at successively higher points in its length, each removing an additional portion of the bagasse therefrom. Meanwhile the cleaned fiber at the ends of the leaves moves both forward across the scutching'area and radially, outwardly as shown in Fig. 1, due to the tangential action of the blades. As this action continues the outer end of the leaf, which is suitably held against the pull of the scutching action, travels past the outer end c'f the r'adial feeding edge and the cleaned fiber is discharged at thefperiphery of the machine, leaving only the small, butt ends of the leaves un'cleaned.

While as stated above the leaves may be fed manually to such an apparatus, it is preferred in most cases to employ mechanical feeding means a suitable form of which is illustrated in the drawings. A series ofmoving leaf supporting chains 2| are provided with upwardly'pro- .jecting'feeding fingers 22, groups or series of fingers on the several chains being arranged at the angle at which it is desired to present the leaves to the machine. The leaves are placed on a feeding table 23, the chain sprockets operating beneath slots in the tableso that the fingers 22 project above the table top and'engage and slide the leavesoif the table. Attheirfopposi'te ends, the chains run on sprockets 25 which operate beneath slots formed inthescutchingsupport 6 so that as the leavesare fed to the machine, the fingers 22 drop down beneath the scutching surface. The lower reaches of the chains 2| pass around idler sprockets 26 which may be 'adjustably mounted to regulate the slack in the chains. The chains may be driven in any suitable manner and in the form shown the "shaft 2'! which carries the sprockets 24 "also carries a drive sprocket 28 whichis connected by a drive chain 29 witha sprocket 30 driven by a worm wheel 3| and a worm 32 on the shaftof the motor 20. I

For the purpose of holding the outer ends of the leaves, a pair of chains 33, 34 are arranged one above the, other on sprockets 35, 36, the lower as the leaves are moved off' thefeeding table '23 and as they are carried forward toward the machine by the chains 21 Preferably the upper reach of thelower chain 33 moves on a support 40 and the lower reach of the upper chain 34 is pressed downwardly by a bar M which may be spring loaded as shown at 42.

When the leaves are discharged from the machine as described above, it will be seen that substantially the entire length of the leaf consists of cleaned fiber, leaving uncleaned only the butt ends which are held between the chains 33, 34. If it is now desired to clean the butt ends of the leaves, a suitable supplemental mechanism may be combined with the machine above described. For example, the shafts of the sprockets 31 may also carry a pair of sprockets 43 which drive a pair of chains 44 similar to chains 33, 34. The sprockets 43 are located adjacent the periphery of the machine so that the cleaned fiber discharged therefrom is received between the chains 44, the butt ends of the leaves thereafter passing from engagement between the chains 33, 3d and hanging down from the chains 44. The butt ends may now be cleaned by a small scutching wheel 45 of known type which carries blades 45 and brushes 41 cooperating with a scutching support 43, the wheel being driven in any suitable manner as by a chain 49 and a motor 50. 7

It will be understood that the embodiment tha has been described above with particularity and illustrated in the drawings is for purposes of example only and that the invention is not restricted thereto but is susceptible of a variety of mechanical expressions, many of which will now occur to those skilled in the art, and it will also be apparent that various changes may be made in the form, details of construction and arrangement of the parts without departing from the spirit of the invention. Reference should therefore be had to the appended claims for a definition of the limits of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. Apparatus of the class described comprising a fiat scutching support and a scutching member rotatable relative thereto and having blades projecting into close proximity with the surface of said support, said support having a feeding edge for leaves to be cleaned that is substantially radial relative to the axis of rotation of said scutching member.

2. Apparatus of the class described comprising a flat substantially horizontal scutching table, and a scutching member mounted to rotate above said table on a substantially vertical axis, said member having blades projecting into close proximity with the surface of said table, said table having a feeding edge for leaves to be cleaned that is substantially radial with respect to the axis of rotation of said member.

3. Apparatus of the class described comprising a fiat substantially horizontal scutching table, a scutching member mounted to rotate above said table on a substantially vertical axis, said member having blades projecting into close proximity with the surface of said table, said table having a feeding edge for leaves to be cleaned that is substantially radial with respect to the axis of rotation of said member, and means for feeding leaves under said rotating member to said feeding edge.

4. Apparatus of the class described comprising a fiat substantially horizontal scutching table, a scutching member mounted to rotate above said table on a substantially vertical axis, said member having blades projecting into close proximity with the surface of said table, said table having a feeding edge for leaves to be cleaned that is substantially radial with respect to the axis of rotation of said member, and means for holding the outer ends of the leaves against the pull exerted thereon by the scutching blades.

5. Apparatus of the class described comprising a flat substantially horizontal scutching table, a scutching member mounted to rotate above said table on a substantially vertical axis, said member having blades projecting into close proximity with the surface of said table, said table having a feeding edge for leaves to be cleaned that is substantially radial with respect to the axis of rotation of said member, and means for holding the outer ends of the leaves against the pull exerted thereon by the scutching blades, said means being movable toward the feeding edge to control the rate of feed of the leaves.

6. Apparatus of the class described comprising a flat substantially horizontal scutching table, a scutching member mounted to rotate above said table on a substantially vertical axis, said member having blades projecting into close proximity with the surface of said table, said table having a feeding edge for leaves to be cleaned that is substantially radial with respect to the axis of rotation of said member, and means for feeding leaves under said rotating member to said feeding edge.

7. Apparatus of the class described comprising a flat substantially horizontal scutching table, a scutching member mounted to rotate above said table on a substantially vertical axis, said member having blades projecting into close proximity with the surface of said table, said table having a feeding edge for leaves to be cleaned that is substantially radial with respect to the axis of rotation of said member, means for feeding leaves under said rotating member to said feeding edge, and means for holding the outer ends of the leaves against the pull exerted thereon by the scutching blades.

8. Apparatus of the class described comprising a fiat substantially horizontal scutching table, a scutching member mounted to rotate above said table on a substantially vertical axis, said member having blades projecting into close proximity with the surface of said table, said table having a feeding-edge for leaves to be cleaned that is substantially radial with respect to the axis of rotation of said member, means for feeding leaves under said rotating member to said feeding edge, and means for holding the outer ends of the leaves against the pull exerted thereon by the scutching blades, said means being movable toward said edge to control the rate of feed of said leaves.

9. Apparatus of the class described comprising a flat substantially horizontal scutching table, a scutching member mounted to rotate above said table on a substantially vertical axis, said member having blades projecting into close proximity with the surface of said table, said table having a feeding edge for leaves to be cleaned that is substantially radial with respect to the axis of rotation of said member, means for feeding leaves under said rotating member to said feeding edge, and means for holding the outer ends of the leaves against the pull exerted thereon by the scutching blades, said means being movable toward said edge and past the periphery of rotation of said member at one side thereof.

JOHN S. REEVES, 

